Polycrystalline diamond compacts (“PDC”) have been used in industrial applications, including rock drilling applications and metal machining applications. Such compacts have demonstrated advantages over some other types of cutting elements, such as better wear resistance and impact resistance. The PDC can be formed by sintering individual diamond particles together under the high pressure and high temperature (“HPHT”) conditions referred to as the “diamond stable region,” which is typically above forty kilobars and between 1,200 degrees Celsius and 2,000 degrees Celsius, in the presence of a catalyst/solvent which promotes diamond-diamond bonding. Some examples of catalyst/solvents for sintered diamond compacts are cobalt, nickel, iron, and other Group VIII metals. PDCs usually have a diamond content greater than seventy percent by volume, with about eighty percent to about ninety-eight percent being typical. An unbacked PDC can be mechanically bonded to a tool (not shown), according to one example. Alternatively, the PDC is bonded to a substrate, thereby forming a PDC cutter, which is typically insertable within a downhole tool (not shown), such as a drill bit or a reamer.
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a PDC cutter 100 having a polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) cutting table 110, or compact, in accordance with the prior art. Although a PCD cutting table 110 is described in the exemplary embodiment, other types of cutting tables, including polycrystalline boron nitride (“PCBN”) compacts, are used in alternative types of cutters. Referring to FIG. 1, the PDC cutter 100 typically includes the PCD cutting table 110 and a substrate 150 that is coupled to the PCD cutting table 110. The PCD cutting table 110 is about one hundred thousandths of an inch (2.5 millimeters) thick; however, the thickness is variable depending upon the application in which the PCD cutting table 110 is to be used.
The substrate 150 includes a top surface 152, a bottom surface 154, and a substrate outer wall 156 that extends from the circumference of the top surface 152 to the circumference of the bottom surface 154. The PCD cutting table 110 includes a cutting surface 112, an opposing surface 114, and a PCD cutting table outer wall 116 that extends from the circumference of the cutting surface 112 to the circumference of the opposing surface 114. The opposing surface 114 of the PCD cutting table 110 is coupled to the top surface 152 of the substrate 150. Typically, the PCD cutting table 110 is coupled to the substrate 150 using a high pressure and high temperature (“HPHT”) press. However, other methods known to people having ordinary skill in the art can be used to couple the PCD cutting table 110 to the substrate 150. In one embodiment, upon coupling the PCD cutting table 110 to the substrate 150, the cutting surface 112 of the PCD cutting table 110 is substantially parallel to the substrate's bottom surface 154. Additionally, the PDC cutter 100 has been illustrated as having a right circular cylindrical shape; however, the PDC cutter 100 is shaped into other geometric or non-geometric shapes in other exemplary embodiments. In certain exemplary embodiments, the opposing surface 114 and the top surface 152 are substantially planar; however, the opposing surface 114 and the top surface 152 are non-planar in other exemplary embodiments. Additionally, according to some exemplary embodiments, a bevel (not shown) is formed around at least the circumference of the cutting surface 112.
According to one example, the PDC cutter 100 is formed by independently forming the PCD cutting table 110 and the substrate 150, and thereafter bonding the PCD cutting table 110 to the substrate 150. Alternatively, the substrate 150 is initially formed and the PCD cutting table 110 is subsequently formed on the top surface 152 of the substrate 150 by placing polycrystalline diamond powder onto the top surface 152 and subjecting the polycrystalline diamond powder and the substrate 150 to a high temperature and high pressure process. Alternatively, the substrate 150 and the PCD cutting table 110 are formed and bonded together at about the same time. Although a few methods of forming the PDC cutter 100 have been briefly mentioned, other methods known to people having ordinary skill in the art can be used.
According to one example for forming the PDC cutter 100, the PCD cutting table 110 is formed and bonded to the substrate 150 by subjecting a layer of diamond powder and a mixture of tungsten carbide and cobalt powders to HPHT conditions. The cobalt is typically mixed with tungsten carbide and positioned where the substrate 150 is to be formed. The diamond powder is placed on top of the cobalt and tungsten carbide mixture and positioned where the PCD cutting table 110 is to be formed. The entire powder mixture is then subjected to HPHT conditions so that the cobalt melts and facilitates the cementing, or binding, of the tungsten carbide to form the substrate 150. The melted cobalt also diffuses, or infiltrates, into the diamond powder and acts as a catalyst for synthesizing diamond bonds and forming the PCD cutting table 110. Thus, the cobalt acts as both a binder for cementing the tungsten carbide and as a catalyst/solvent for sintering the diamond powder to form diamond-diamond bonds. The cobalt also facilitates in forming strong bonds between the PCD cutting table 110 and the cemented tungsten carbide substrate 150.
Cobalt has been a preferred constituent of the PDC manufacturing process. Traditional PDC manufacturing processes use cobalt as the binder material for forming the substrate 150 and also as the catalyst material for diamond synthesis because of the large body of knowledge related to using cobalt in these processes. The synergy between the large bodies of knowledge and the needs of the process have led to using cobalt as both the binder material and the catalyst material. However, as is known in the art, alternative metals, such as iron, nickel, chromium, manganese, and tantalum, and other suitable materials, can be used as a catalyst for diamond synthesis. When using these alternative materials as a catalyst for diamond synthesis to form the PCD cutting table 110, cobalt, or some other material such as nickel chrome or iron, is typically used as the binder material for cementing the tungsten carbide to form the substrate 150. Although some materials, such as tungsten carbide and cobalt, have been provided as examples, other materials known to people having ordinary skill in the art can be used to form the substrate 150, the PCD cutting table 110, and the bonds between the substrate 150 and the PCD cutting table 110.
FIG. 2 is a schematic microstructural view of the PCD cutting table 110 of FIG. 1 in accordance with the prior art. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the PCD cutting table 110 has diamond particles 210 bonded to other diamond particles 210, one or more interstitial spaces 212 formed between the diamond particles 210, and cobalt 214, or some other catalyst, deposited within one or more of the interstitial spaces 212. During the sintering process, the interstitial spaces 212, or voids, are formed between the carbon-carbon bonds and are located between the diamond particles 210. The diffusion of cobalt 214 into the diamond powder results in cobalt 214 being deposited within these interstitial spaces 212 that are formed within the PCD cutting table 110 during the sintering process.
Once the PCD cutting table 110 is formed and placed into operation, the PCD cutting table 110 is known to wear quickly when the temperature reaches a critical temperature. This critical temperature is about 750 degrees Celsius and is reached when the PCD cutting table 110 is cutting rock formations or other known materials. The high rate of wear is believed to be caused by the differences in the thermal expansion rate between the diamond particles 210 and the cobalt 214 and also by the chemical reaction, or graphitization, that occurs between cobalt 214 and the diamond particles 210. The coefficient of thermal expansion for the diamond particles 210 is about 1.0×10−6 millimeters−1×Kelvin−1 (“mm−1K−1”), while the coefficient of thermal expansion for the cobalt 214 is about 13.0×10−6 mm−1K−1. Thus, the cobalt 214 expands much faster than the diamond particles 210 at temperatures above this critical temperature, thereby making the bonds between the diamond particles 210 unstable. The PCD cutting table 110 becomes thermally degraded at temperatures above about 750 degrees Celsius and its cutting efficiency deteriorates significantly.
Efforts have been made to slow the wear of the PCD cutting table 110 at these high temperatures. These efforts include performing a leaching process on the PCD cutting table 110, which removes some of the cobalt 214 from the interstitial spaces 212. These leaching processes, which includes, but is not limited to, an acid leaching process and/or an electrolytic leaching process, is known to persons having ordinary skill in the art and is not described herein for the sake of brevity. By removing some of the cobalt 214, or catalyst, from the PCD cutting table 110, the thermal degradation of the PCD structure is reduced.
FIG. 3 shows a cross-section view of a leached PDC cutter 300 having a PCD cutting table 310 that has been at least partially leached in accordance with the prior art. Referring to FIG. 3, the PDC cutter 300 includes the PCD cutting table 310 coupled to a substrate 350. The substrate 350 is similar to substrate 150 (FIG. 1) and is not described again for the sake of brevity. The PCD cutting table 310 is similar to the PCD cutting table 110 (FIG. 1), but includes a leached layer 354 and an unleached layer 356. The leached layer 354 extends from the cutting surface 312, which is similar to the cutting surface 112 (FIG. 1), towards an opposing surface 314, which is similar to the opposing surface 114 (FIG. 1). In the leached layer 354, at least a portion of the cobalt 214 has been removed from within the interstitial spaces 212 (FIG. 2) using at least one leaching process mentioned above. Thus, the leached layer 354 has been leached to a desired depth 353. However, during the leaching process, one or more by-product materials 398 are formed and deposited within some of the interstitial spaces 212 (FIG. 2) in the leached layer 354. The unleached layer 356 is similar to the PCD cutting table 150 (FIG. 1) and extends from the end of the leached layer 354 to the opposing surface 314. In the unleached layer 356, the cobalt 214 (FIG. 2) remains within the interstitial spaces 212 (FIG. 2). Although a boundary line 355 is formed between the leached layer 354 and the unleached layer 356 and is depicted as being substantially linear, the boundary line 355 can be non-linear.
The leached PDC cutters 300 are leached to different desired depths 353 and how deep the cutter 300 has been leached has an effect on the performance of the cutter 300. Conventionally, the leached depth 353 of the cutter 300 is measured, or determined, by cutting the cutter 300 vertically in half and then subsequently polishing the cutter 300. The leached depth 353 is visually measured under a microscope or similar magnifying device. This process is rather tedious and cumbersome as it involves cutting the cutter 300, such as by electrical discharge machining (“EDM”), mounting, grinding, and polishing the cutter 300, and performing an analysis under a microscope. Additionally, this process destroys the cutter 300 from subsequently being used. The leached depth 353 that is determined in this manner is assumed to be the same leached depth in other cutters that were leached in the same batch.